Archive for finance

Physical Security and Health

When I talk to my clients about the physical dimension of life and life balance, I talk about three things. First, the security that comes from good health. I mentioned the three components Americans don’t do well in my last post, Physical Dimension of Life Balance, nutrition, sleep, and activity. When we maintain our health, we feel more secure about ourselves and our future. Illness pulls us into depressed states and makes it much more difficult to feel secure about other aspect of life.

Physical Security and Job, Career, or Purpose

The second aspect of security I share with clients centers around career, job, finance, knowing you have some kind of wealth to fall back on as you face increased responsibilities, grow older, and come closer to the end of life. At twenty, losing everything you own is not such a big deal. My first moves were in the back of my car. Most of you can remember those days. In my mid-thirties, it was a very different story. I had a wife and two kids to consider. It was okay if I was destitute, but I could never allow them to be destitute. I needed an income, a place for them to feel safe, clothes and food for them. I wanted more for them than just necessities. In my forties, it was about college bills, getting my kids into the right schools, establish their own skills and career patterns so they could succeed themselves (and move out of the house!). Now in my late fifties, it’s a question of whether I can build the right retirement portfolio before I quit working or reach a point when I can no longer work. And when I hit the magic age when I cannot work, I’m sure the security questions will revolve around what home will my kids put us in and is there enough money to pay for it.

Physical security in this second meaning, then, ties closely to two other dimensions, family and spiritual. Let me explain. It ties to family because financial security is never about how much you earn, but rather about how much you spend and that involves family spending habits and expectations. The problem with most families in financial trouble is not how much they make, but how much they spend. When you spend more than you make, you never catch up. That’s the problem with the current administration’s “get out of debt” concept. You can never spend your way out of debt!

Physical security ties to the spiritual dimension because it’s in that dimension that you find purpose for your life. When you know why you are here, you can do more than just find a job that puts food on the table. The reason 65% of workers are unhappy in their jobs is because they never match purpose with career and job. They pick up the paper or search the internet, apply for something they think they can do, get a job and get stuck. They never figure out their purpose in life and never pursue a career in which they will truly be happy.

Security is important. A job can make you feel secure, but it cannot make you happy. A career can make you feel more secure than a job, but again, you may not be happy in your career if it doesn’t make your purpose in life. By matching your purpose, career, and job. You will enjoy what you do, make money doing it, and feel secure in it because you know you are made for that purpose.

Physical Security and Safety

A third part of physical security is safety. I mention it briefly because if safety is an issue, it must be dealt with swiftly and is really out of the purview of life coaches. If you do not feel physically safe where you are, do something about it…now. Whether it involves police, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, carpenters or construction workers, marital counselors, or some other specialty to intervene, take care of the safety issues in your life immediately. You cannot continue to live in what you perceive is an unsafe environment.